This offseason was supposed to be an opportunity for Bill Guerin to make waves after Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s contract buyouts.
There were multiple names that drew interest from the Minnesota Wild. They stuck out more than the worst version of the Minnesota Twins.
Unless you buy what Geurin wants to sell with the name Vladimir Tarasenko, or Nico Sturm being a Stanley Cup cog, there’s a lot to be desired.
That’s an unfortunate reality after all of the waiting fans from the newly named Xcel Energy Center have done.
That reality isn’t lost on those evaluating that leagues happenings either.
Mediocrity defines MN Wild offseason
Although the offseason really just got underway, plenty of defining moves have already taken place. There is now a shortage of openly available talent and the Minnesota Wild didn’t do any heavy lifting. The Athletic’s Michael Russo weighed in after assigning the team a C+ grade.
“The Wild had hoped to sign Brock Nelson in free agency, but he re-signed in Colorado. They wanted to sign Brock Boeser, but when it became clear he had other options, they pivoted to Vladimir Tarasenko on a one-year bet that his career can be reinvigorated. Nico Sturm should help their penalty-kill and faceoff needs, but this was not the July 1 “Christmas” fans expected after four years of buyout shackles limiting their every move.”
The key word in Russo’s evaluation is “but.” The Minnesota Wild intended to do plenty of things and missed on virtually all of those that carried significant impact.
Maybe Geurin forgot how to be aggressive during the years he was strapped with buyouts for Parise and Suter. Maybe he overplayed what the market for some of these free agents actually would be.
Either way, it results in a very underwhelming crop of talent. It’s likely that Kirill Kaprizov signs an extension, and it will have the potential to make him the league’s highest-paid player.
That’s great, but he’s not an addition, and more money doesn’t help them bring in new talent.
The Wild aren’t along in their rating. 11 different organizations got grades in the “C” range with Minnesota being joined by Vancouver, Anaheim, and Buffalo amongst the “C+” contingent. Only Chicago and Columbus recorded “D” grades.
It remains to be seen how Minnesota will build the rest of the way, and they’ll finally have space to add at the trade deadline. For a team that finished 45-30-7 and exited with another patented first round playoff loss, this doesn’t seem great.
